Crisis Averted
by Amelia the Turk
Summary: What if Zack had no reason to go back to the church in the slums? A retelling of Crisis Core. Story featuring a young, short redhaired Turk named Amelia Grace, a failed SOLDIER Cadet who gets assigned to work with Zack's case. Eventual romance, trying to keep the characters and the plot as accurate to the game as possible; well, with some minor tweaks.
1. Chapter 1

It had all started when Zack met Tseng for the first time. It was almost a mission well done, almost. A very short redhead was to blame, and she held no remorse.

Amelia followed after Tseng closly; wherever he went, she was two steps behind. She swore for the third time that day under her breath as her heels got caught on the floor and made an awkward squeaking sound. Tseng has expressed his displeasure at the sound and practicality of her shoes before, warning her yet again that she was on thin ice. Every warning that she received was met with her steely blue eyes and a fierce scowl accompanying a brief nod. She didn't need to be reprimanded to know that, but she also knew that ShinRa had already fought to keep her, so she wasn't likely to fall through that ice.

Her scores when she entered the ShinRa military were phenemonal. What most other cadets took four days to learn how to shoot, Amelia had done in thirty minutes. She aced all of the strategy classes, and she held a record for the tidiest space within the barracks. Everything was going well for her until it came to physical strength and conditioning. She had known she was small, but she hadn't realized how small she was until she stood in the row of cadets. Five feet and two inches did nothing to make her rise above the others, many over six feet tall.

The scientists got flustered at the "waste of intellect" and insisted she be put through Mako therapy, claiming it would enhance her physical features. It did, but only in all the ways that didn't matter. Her eyes had the telltale SOLDIER glow, and she could see clearly in the dark. She remained short, and the strength added to her body was too disproportionately placed that her system could not handle the added mass - so Amelia Grace remained slight. She was too short to fit even the smallest SOLDIER uniform, and she struggled to make it through the training made for, well, tall people. A ladder positioned seven feet into the air could be grabbed with nothing more than reaching hand by everyone else in her class, but Amelia was still grasping at air.

President Shinra made a big deal about wasting resources, and shoved the little problem child into the hands of the man from Wutai. Tseng.

As the Turks were part of ShinRa, the chairmen didn't seem to see her as a waste of resources if she still worked for the company. It wasn't so bad. Tseng kept her on her toes, literally and figuratively, by bringing her everywhere he went. His methods still made Amelia's dreams turn sour, but he got the job done.

Tseng was never mean, but he was strict.

"Strike that." She mumbled aloud as Tseng shot the guard by the door as they exited their mission. It was just another casualty for the Turk, but Amelia still shuddered as the arm of the man twitched in a last attempt at life.

"Amelia I would prefer if you kept your snide comments to yourself." Tseng didn't even turn his head to speak to Amelia as she plod along behind him. "We have to move quickly. Unfortunately, since your tactics of aquiring information took too long, we will have to be hasty to make it on time to meet with Angeal."

Amelia swept her bangs out of her eyes again, watching the cascading hair in front of her glide along with the man whose head carried it. "Well, what are we going to do when we meet with Angeal?"

A sigh was the only response. Normally Tseng didn't find Angeal's missions disagreeable. In fact, he was one of the only SOLDOERs that she had seen the Turk relax around - even a short break in the tensing of his forehead meant Tseng was at ease, she had found this out. Amelia was relieved when they went out of the building littered with bodies through an elevator and clambered into an additionally quiet helicopter. The headphones that stifled the noise soon lulled Amelia to sleep, and she savored every second of it.

"Change of plans" is not the first thing anyone wants to hear when they first wake up, especially not from someone who would rather die than change plans on a whim. Amelia started awake and stayed her hand against the seat. "Thanks to your poor time management skills, we will not be immediately joining the team in Banora. It appears that two of our own have since lost signal and any sign of life."

Genesis. Tseng grimaced, seeming to sense that Amelia was trying to piece together the information that he had thought he so clearly laid before her. With a blunt tone and no care for the fact that Amelia was now trying to figure out the complicated seat belt, Tseng checked his gun for the fifth time that night. "It seems like we will be meeting with a SOLDIER 2nd Class in the briefing room. Do your best to be presentable, Lazard will be there to keep things civil."

The redhead did her best not to yawn as she checked out her own weapon and followed Tseng's example of putting her hair up. "I can't believe I was almost one of those crazy SOLDIERS."

If she had not been half asleep still, she would have sworn Tseng smiled before getting himself out of the helicopter with grace to spare.

When they arrived at the debriefing room, Tseng confidently strode next to the computer just as Lazard was finishing a sentence Amelia determined to be introductory. "They will be joining you."

A tall, young SOLDIER turned to meet Tseng's figure as the Turk introduced himself the way he always did. "Tseng of the Turks."

It would have been time for Amelia to smile as the four words conveyed both nothing and everything to - him? Leave it to her luck to get put with the squat-loving genius that hung out with Kunsel in the barracks. She couldn't remember his name, but she could automatically hear the sounds of his grunts bounce around in her head.

"This job is looking really gloomy..." It sounded like an off-handed whine, and Amelia could count the ways she would get rebuked for it by the stern Turk, but Lazard seemed only to smile at the young boy's grumbling.

Tseng didn't share his mirth. "Let me know when you're ready to go."

"Oh, excuse me." Amelia twitched as the boy answered his phone, right in the middle of a meeting.

Well, she supposed, the meeting was technically over. Yet the thought of something being that important irked the young woman. Tseng seemed to share her sentiment as he beckoned her over to look through the case on the computer screen. Her efforts at concealing her emotions faltered as the young man, Zack Fair, left the room. "2nd Class indeed."

Lazard looked up over his glasses into Amelia's eyes and she could feel embarrassment breaking over her like a wave. "I seem to remember a short Cadet thinking the world of 2nd Class SOLDIERs, in fact, I remember her begging me to let her try the tests just one more time."

Amelia swallowed audibly. Her day saved by Tseng as he began delving into the logistics of the Banora plan. In retrospect, she was just lucky that Zack hadn't remembered her from training. She would never hear the end of it, and would likely be teased mercilessly.

It wasn't long before she had, once again, gotten back into the helicopter. Amelia was piloting this time, and became increasingly thankful for the sleep she got earlier. Thanks to the Mako, of course, she was more alert than ever. She also was thankful for the mundane task as it gave her a chance to leave the meeting room before Zack came back. No sooner had she landed than Zack jumped off the side and ran towards a fight with two Genesis clones and a machine of some sort.

Amelia didn't notice besides the gentle shake of a departing passenger.

Everything was where it needed to be, and she had more than enough ammunition to last for one day. She was ready. With the helicopter left safely behind her, she stepped out and nodded to Tseng as routine to let him know everything was where it should be.

"Genesis clones." Zack's voice almost sounded weary, which was understandable considering he just cut down copies of one of his mentors.


	2. Banora Apples

Amelia watched as Tseng tensely walked past, as if there wasn't just a giant yellow robot that the SOLDIER had just cut down. His voice showed no sign of emotion, "Where did you hear that?"

"Sephiroth said it." Zack responded promptly, reminding Amelia that this was not some low class SOLDIER, but one who worked closely with Sephiroth. A wave of mixed jealousy and pity washed over the Turk. She was almost going to articulate it when Tseng spoke again, interrupting her thoughts with truth.

"The technology was stolen from our scientists." Amelia's heart went out to Zack as he made a sound of disbelief. It was like the boy was so naive that he didn't know what was going on in ShinRa's basements. "It apparently allows Genesis's abilities and traits to be transplanted to SOLDIER members... And monsters."

"SOLDIERS and monsters... We're the same?" His voice was brimming with so much emotion that Amelia felt compelled to speak, even though she knew Tseng wanted her to leave the talking to him.

But how? What would she say to the boy in front of her that would alleviate the pain of his world falling apart. Her lips parted and she reached for words, but none came worthy of speaking. Instead of some rallying cry, she simply stated, "We should check out the house."

She could swear for how stupid it sounded, but that was what Tseng taught her her duty was. Reno would have cracked a joke, but she was not being taught by Reno. Her mentor spoke evenly, "This is Genesis's home. His parents were wealthy landowners."

The SOLDIER looked up at a tree next to the house, and Amelia could see him remembering something, she could watch his attitude only become more dismal. "They weren't mere aquaintences, they grew up together, and were best friends."

"So Genesis deserts, and gets his best friend to join him." Zack almost sounds accusatory, "is that it?"

"Sephiroth believes that's the case." Tseng pauses, Amelia could tell he was not convinced Sephiroth was right. He raised his chin to point to a disruption in the ground underneath the Banora Apple tree. "There. A gravestone. Still very new. Zack, go find Angeal's house. We'll check the grave."

Amelia had a sense of panic swell up in her chest for a moment, was she really going to be a grave digger today? The panic calmed with Zack's comment. "Eugh, so Turks always do this stuff?"

"Someone has to do it." Tseng said with a shrug. Zack paused his following of the Turk, not wanting to go any nearer to the object of his discomfort.

"Must be rough."

Tseng literally waved his hand to wave away the comment. "Don't worry." At this point, Amelia was slightly in front of Tseng and was watching him carefully. "We're paid much better than you are."

Amelia smiled widely, Tseng had attempted humor! A gentle laugh burst out before she could stop it, encouraged by Zack's exclamation of "No way!"

"The truth hurts sometimes, pretty boy." Amelia said after her laugh was reigned in. Zack made eye contact with her for a moment before he looked away, and she thought for a moment that he recognized her and was going to make a snide comment. He didn't, but instead shook his head and took off to find Angeal's house as promised.

In the silence that followed, Amelia brought back two shovels for the grave from the helicopter, and she was just about to start the dreadful task when Tseng's warm but flat voice broke the silence before she could break the earth. "Pretty boy?"

Her shovel faltered and she had to place her foot down to stop from falling. She rolled her eyes, knowing that Tseng was amused at her reactions and thus she could be more relaxed. "It was what all the girl Cadets called him. Everyone else wears their helmet, he wouldn't. Plus, he's a big sweetheart. Sort of weird, but a sweetheart."

Tseng again let his face show a bit of emotion. He was laughing, or however one would describe the quiet mirth that his in his brown eyes. "Interesting. If I had known we were traveling with a celebrity I would have brought something more presentable."

"Tseng, don't make me fling dead person dirt on you." She said with a grunt. Luckily or unluckily, the grave wasn't very deep. She tensed as her shovel meet resistance. "Or, you know, actual dead person."

"You didn't just..." Tseng pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh. "Amelia, if I have to explain to a very furious Genesis why his parent's corpses were distingured..."

"He shouldn't have killed them in the first place, then. It's that simple." Amelia muttered under her breath in retort, as she gazed down at the freshly slaughtered middle aged couple. "They look so... Betrayed. I thought they would look at peace, but this... This is terrible."

Tseng's gloved hand touched the still partially-obscured face of Mrs. Rhapidos. "You're looking at bodies that witnessed first-hand how twisted their child had become, did you expect peace?"

"No. I guess not." Amelia shook her head, "So where do we go from here?"


End file.
